I’m studying for an exam at the moment and thought I’d take a break and grab a coffee.

So I went to the kitchen, and not wanting to have to boil water to use with the instant coffee, I decided to see what would happen if I used hot water from the tap.1 The result, though not momentous in any way, is drinkable.

As I was sipping my hot beverage, I decide to find an article that I had read a couple of weeks ago that describes the effects of coffee on your body.

I couldn’t find it, but did manage to find an entry on HowStuffWorks.com that says the following are the ultimate results of caffeine (via adenosine and adrenaline) ingestion:

Your pupils dilate.

Your breathing tubes open up (this is why people suffering from severe asthma attacks are sometimes injected with epinephrine).

Your heart beats faster.

Blood vessels on the surface constrict to slow blood flow from cuts and also to increase blood flow to muscles.

Blood pressure rises.

Blood flow to the stomach slows.

The liver releases sugar into the bloodstream for extra energy.

Muscles tighten up, ready for action.

I should have probably said the ‘supposed’ effects of coffee because I never feel any of these. The same goes for all those fancy-pants energy drinks like Red Bull.

Useless, all of ’em. Except for coffee. Because it tastes so good.

Alrighty then… Back to the books.

1Of course, the fact that the water coming out of our tap is hot enough to make coffee with is a bit disconcerting. We noticed this awhiles back and I was volunteered to go on my hands and knees and beg the boiler to stop making the water so hot re-adjust the heating temp to the lowest setting.

Obviously, this did not help.

Ultimately, I think it’s just a matter of our sexy (Yes, I said sexy.) Viessmann boiler being too much for our needs. But at least the water’s not as hot as it used to be.

Also, it serves to illustrate quite well that it’s not size that counts but how you use it that matters.